Watchmen
The Watchmen was a fringe anti-statist government watchdog group formed before the Great War that was later admitted into Martha's Gulch. Their paranoia was what eventually forced them to leave Martha's Gulch by Atlas Guard and head north. After a while though, the Guard came for the Watchmen and totally crushed them. History Chinese, Zetans, and Tinfoil The Watchmen was founded in Los Angeles in 2048 for one reason: to search for "the truth". A surprisingly flexible reason, but the Watchmen stuck to it as well as they were able, at least if that meant half-truths and conspiracy theories laced with sedition. This went on for quite a while until they met with Martha Lore to gain entrance to her refuge, Martha's Gulch. They were accepted into the fold soon enough. However, many in the group still had their suspicions about Martha and her motives for gathering all these libertarian groups together. Tamir Nguyen, the Watchmen's nominal leader, managed to keep the dissenters satisfied. The Watchmen remained fidgety around the other groups in Martha's Gulch but managed to remain stable if still suspicious. When the bombs finally fell in 2077, most of the Watchmen filed underground while some others were suspicious of Martha Lore. Nguyen made most of the dissenters come into the fallout shelter while a few remained aboveground, soon dying from fallout and radiation poisoning. Fear and Loathing The Watchmen that went underground survived the nuclear holocaust, but that did not give them much comfort. Although some, like Nguyen, were perfectly comfortable with the other groups in the fallout shelter, most of the Watchmen mistrusted the other groups, especially the New Order and Atlas Guard. Soon enough, the New Order was forced to leave the fallout shelter due to its conflicting nature. This calmed things down, but many of the Watchmen still remained rather paranoid, believing that Martha was trying to mutate them into slave soldiers or that the Great War never even transpired. However, Nguyen did manage to keep the lid on the Watchmen and they managed to not go insane from neurotic worry. It soon became clear though that things could not go on, and the groups could not remain in the fallout shelter. So in 2079, the groups underneath Martha's Gulch finally emerged, ready to take on the post-nuclear world. Or so they thought. Life was hard topside, and most people focused on day to day survival, somewhat disregarding dogma in favor of survival. However, the Watchmen did not set apart their beliefs and continued making insane conspiracy theories, seeing betrayal around every corner and remaining skeptical of the New Order's description of the wasteland outside Martha's Gulch. Even Nguyen soon could not control his own people and the majority of them wanted to leave the "oppressive" environment of Martha's Gulch to seek their fortunes in the wasteland. The order to destroy mutation broke the proverbial camel's back. Nguyen would much rather have stayed but having close friends in the Watchmen and respecting the majority decision, he decided that the Watchmen would leave, whether he liked it or not. And so they did leave with little fanfare in 2080. The Watchmen made it into the wasteland, unprepared and eager. They were subsequently savaged by the dangers of the wasteland. Crazed survivalists, mutated animals, and radiation all took their toll on Watchmen as they trekked north, away from Martha's Gulch. They did make it though eventually, to a place where would not "prosper" but at least live. Just before the Watchmen arrived at their destination however, their steadfast leader Tamir Nguyen died of radiation poisoning. As a result, there was a power vacuum when the Watchmen arrived at their new home near the ruins of Forks, Washington. In that area in 2083, the tried and weary Watchmen stopped their long trek and set down roots. However, their difficulties had really just begun. Undoing The next couple of years were exceeding difficult for the Watchmen. Leaderless and divided, the Watchmen's once brotherly bonds quickly splintered apart due to the duress of survival. Soon enough the Watchmen descended into anarchy, fighting each other tooth and nail for things such as food, water, and chems. They basically became raiders in those years. For more than two decades, this Hobbesian nightmare raged with the Watchmen remaining a leaderless mob fighting each other over petty reasons. These decades of degeneration and violence came to a head when the new generation of Watchmen witnessed the faults of their parents and decided something had to be done. The young Watchmen, united across various splinter factions in 2105 and fought to stop the violence. With many parents unwilling to fight their own children, most of the Watchmen's splinter factions folded quickly. The exception to this was the Church of the New Mexican Greys, who fought to the last man for their vision of extraterrestrial glory. After reforming in 2106, the Watchmen seemed on the edge of a revelation, a new way of doing things. However, the Watchmen were determined to stay as "free" as possible and a sort of controlled anarchy was agreed upon. The ruins of Forks, now named Dim Sky, became a shanty-town of squalor, a den of chem addicts and conspiracy theorists, generally avoided by outsiders. The Watchmen were fine with this condition though, seeing it as better than their previous state. In 2111, the Watchmen solidified their position as they expanded their settlements outside of Dim Sky. For the next century or so, the Watchmen lived peacefully. Dim Sky and the Watchmen earned a reputation for seediness but also acceptance. They did not care if you were a mutant, a criminal, a cyborg, or a male nurse, you were welcome. This welcoming attitude improved the Watchmen's reputation considerably and by 2200, Dim Sky was seen as a refuge for the downtrodden and those searching for a new beginning. The Watchmen became more of a club among the townspeople of Dim Sky, a forum to discuss theories and ideas. Things were not always prosperous, but people got along. Wolves Among Sheep In the summer of 2248, the peace and tranquility the Watchmen had nurtured for years came crashing down with the arrival of a group of strangers from the south. Loping into Dim Sky, most of the strangers seemed to be soldiers of some kind, with a unique type of armor. The group also had some women and children with them, who seemed half-starved. The Watchmen welcomed these strangers into town and asked where they came from. The strangers replied that they were refugees from a war in Seattle and needed shelter. They were welcomed in. It was a pity the ghouls of the group, all high and inattentive, did not recognize the signature symbols and armor of the New Order. Soon after the refugees arrival, a delegation of offical-looking soldiers came to Dim Sky. They said that they were members of Atlas Guard from Martha's Gulch and wanted to poke around town to look for some "war criminals". The Watchmen in town, dimly remembering the Guard and wanting to uphold their vague principles, refused to help until the Guard specified why they were doing their search. The Guard, arrogant to a fault, refused to answer and decided to resort to violence. The Watchmen were utterly defeated in three days. In fact, the New Order remnants put up a better fight than the Watchmen did, with some of them actually escaping. Dim Sky was burned, and many surrounding homesteads were razed as well. The Guard had remembered the Watchmen as well and had decided it was time to put them in the ground, for good. The Sons of Liberty were only vaguely aware of what happened and did not connect the dots. The Guard went unpunished, and the Watchmen ceased to exist as an organization. Legacy The Watchmen did live on though, in a way, through its people and ideals. Atlas Guard now obstinately rules over the area once occupied by the Watchmen, the Olympian Peninsula, but the Watchmen's descendants and some of their ghoulified former members still live there. They live much the same as they did before, if a little less freely. Conspiracy theories still flow like water, even though the Guard often react negatively if they hear such theories. The Guard and the Libertarian Republic of Gulch prefer a hands-off approach to ruling their territory and only sometimes "enforce their will" in the Olympian Peninsula. They have some toadies among the populace, but the majority still idealize the Watchmen and hope to one day return to the way things were. However, the Guard are still in charge for the moment. In 2287 specifically, the Guard demolished the ruins of Dim Sky for the third time to reinforce the permenance of the Watchmen's destruction. The people of the region see this as an empty threat and another spit in their faces. Equipment Not having a standard set of equipment, the Watchmen always had their own equipment, exemplifying their individualism. This ranged wildly from high-tech military gear to water beggar attire but mostly leaned towards the latter. Culture The Watchmen's culture was defined by their belief in various conspiracy theories and their dogged opposition to statism and authority in general. This led to numerous problems with many other groups. As a group, the Watchmen were quite diverse due to their wide toleration of different beliefs and conspiracies. This led to them having an image of being rather "chill" and accepting outsiders. This eventually led to their end at the hands of Atlas Guard for their harboring of refugees from the New Order. Tactics The Watchmen preferred not to fight but instead try to non-violently spread their ideals. This has given the group quite a large influence even after its dissolution due to individual members and their influence upon other groups and settlements. Notable Members Tamir Nguyen The leader of the Watchmen immediately before the Great War and immediately following it, Tamir Nguyen led the group through great hardship to freedom in the Olympian Peninsula. Nguyen has been forgotten by the Watchmen's descendants but is remembered in Martha's Gulch as a rebel, a contrarian, and (surprisingly) one of the more reasonable Watchmen if a little ineffective. A radical born in Vietnam, Tamir Nguyen left his home country in 2046 to immigrate to the United States of America to live out his dream of becoming a journalist and to escape state-sponsored terror. He came to California, Los Angeles specifically. Tamir's dream did not work out quite as he had planned. Although he spoke good English, his (then) thick accent and Asian background discouraged almost any news agencies from hiring Tamir. After working part-time at many restaurants and a brief stint with alcoholism, Tamir finally cleaned himself up and found a full-time job in 2053 at a radio station owned by the Watchmen. Skeptical of the conspiracy theorists at first and only in it for the money, Tamir only slowly became more acclimated to the Watchmen's beliefs. Although he considered himself a radical, Tamir in his early years put a great deal of trust in the U.S. government, hoping they would do the right thing. After the invasion of Mexico and outbreak of the New Plague however, Tamir's ideas on government began to change. He began to accept quite a few of the Watchmen's theories, though never most of it. Tamir continued working for the Watchmen for almost twenty years, gaining respect from many and admiration from others. Eventually after many years, Tamir ascended to become the leader of the Watchmen unexpectedly. He was soon forced into compromising situations with his fellow Watchmen especially after accepting Martha Lore's invitation to come to Martha's Gulch. This conflict continued as the Watchmen took up residence in Martha's Gulch and even after the sirens heralded the coming of the Great War. Even as the Watchmen ran to the fallout shelter, some protested Martha's "forcing" of them to use her fallout shelter. Nguyen just told them to shut up and get underground. While underground, the different groups in the fallout shelter came into conflict. The Watchmen in particular came into conflict with the New Order, who publicly said the Watchmen were unstable and a threat to others (but in reality just disliked an Asian leading the group). Nguyen in turn detested the New Order for their "quasi-fascism" but still attempted to keep things peaceful. That did not work out, as clashes broke out in the fallout shelter. Nguyen felt guilty when the New Order was forced out of the fallout shelter, knowing this meant certain death. The groups managed to play nice for the rest of their time underground. Nguyen spent a lot of time with Martha Lore in those years, and the two became close friends. Two years passed, and pressure began building between the groups once again. However, Nguyen was always a positive force during this time, being always being nice and polite to every Guard or Son of Liberty. The commanders of the respective groups and Martha had great respect for Nguyen for keeping the Watchmen wrangled but even that could not conflict from flairing up between rival groups. The pressure needed to be let out, and it was in 2079 when the fallout shelter of Martha's Gulch opened for the second time. As soon as the Watchmen emerged aboveground, rumors began to circulate that Martha Lore was going to attempt to establish a libertarian "state" in Martha's Gulch. This was not helped by the renewed presence of the untrusted New Order, who were Martha's Gulch's only real contact with the outside. Nguyen, confident the rumors would not distract too much from basic survival and concerned about his recent heavy-handedness, did not discourage these rumors to Martha's chagrin. While the people of Martha's Gulch were struggling to scratch out a living, the Watchmen did become progressively more paranoid, not just about Martha but even the notion there was a war at all. Nguyen saw the danger of these delusions too late and failed to stem the Watchmen's lunacy. The Watchmen eventually grew too entrenched in their neurotic delusions of "radioactive ghost bombs" and "libertarian jackboot states" to stay in Martha's Gulch in close proximity of the other groups. Nguyen realized this and decided, to prevent a war from accidentally breaking out, that the Watchmen could not stay. So, Nguyen reluctantly declared that the Watchmen would be leaving Martha's Gulch forever for "greener pastures". Nguyen was surprised by the apathetic reactions from the other groups and Martha Lore in particular, who he had considered his only real friend outside the Watchmen (and possibly the only sane one left). She was just sick of his lukewarm promises and lack of a backbone when it came to dealing with the Watchmen. Nguyen guided the Watchmen to their next home in the far north of the Olympia Peninsula, fighting off wildlife and insane survivalists all the way. However, he would die only days before the Watchmen found their new home like many others of the Watchmen, radiation poisoning. His grateful followers buried his corpse on the trail going to their new home, and his grave has since been lost. However, Tamir Nguyen is still remembered by the Watchmen as the "father" of their group (forgetting his overall dissapproval of conspiracy theories) and in Martha's Gulch as "that one sane Watchman". Yasmine Originally a minor actress from Los Angeles, Yasmine joined the Watchmen before the Great War and was slowly ghoulified afterwards. Since then, Yasmine has lived quietly in the Olympian Peninsula but keeps the stories and ideals of the Watchmen alive for future generations, as well as many chem-filled conspiracy theories. Yasmine was a part of the Watchmen pretty much from their beginning to their end, though only in a minimal sense. Most of time she was stoned out of her gourd and was never not especially influential in significant events. Her ghoulification led to her pretty much permanent membership within the group even as the Watchmen fell. Yasmine now lives in a shack in the forests of the Olympian Peninsula. She has a surprisingly good memory for a chem fiend and is very accommodating for people with questions for her. She is a pretty chill individual and accepting of almost everyone. That is if they are not a filthy statist or actively trying to hurt her or her friends. Alexei Johnston The founder of Pantheon Radio, Alexei Johnston was part of the Watchmen before he was on radio and the Watchmen's ideals of truth at all costs motivated Johnston to do the things he did, some more sensible than others. Even though Johnston often condemned his hosts in Martha's Gulch, they respected his free speech and gave Pantheon Radio a foot in the door to become truly great. The exact details of Alexei's life leading up to his time at Pantheon Radio are unclear but what is know is that he was pivotal in creating Pantheon Radio in 2143. By that time, Alexei was an old man but was still know for his surprisingly fiery attitude and former allegiance to the Watchmen. Being a former Watchman heavily influenced how Alexei ran Pantheon Radio, seeing it as a voice for free speech. That did not last for long as Alexei died in 2146, but his ideals have impacted Pantheon Radio for more than a century afterwards. Quotes By About Category:Groups Category:Cascadia Category:Defunct